I heart CVS

Are any of you doing the CVS point thingie? I've heard about it for a couple of years but have been mostly intimidated by it. It is shocking to hear what people get for such little money actually spent!

I gave it a try. First I checked out iheartcvs.com to find out what the specials were, wrote myself a plan, then I hit the store. Here are my results. I spent under $6 for over $20 worth of product. Admittedly I think the items are over-priced BUT, I think I came out spending less as a total. I only bought products that were on my list of stuff we could use right now. The store employees were very helpful and patient. I think they get a kick out of seeing people do it.

Blow Money

Agent H said these words while talking about his money: "My money is mostly 'blow' money". Can you tell he's the son of Dave Ramsey/Peace University graduates? Wish I could say the same about our money.

Live like no one else so that you can live like no one else.

Ornaments to stitch

Aren't these ornaments simply sweet? Ooh my fingers are itching to stitch. Now if only I could get my cracked, bleeding fingers to heal up so I could stitch. (I do have a new cream I'm going to start using on them, fingers crossed!)

I added this pattern (and her book!) to my Kaboodle list. EH's birthday is coming up next month so I'm going see if there is any camera gear under a few grand listed on his wish list. Okay so I'm kidding, that is so not in our Dave Ramsey budget but it will be fun to check out what he's been adding lately.

Use the Force

While attempting to discuss the budget with EH I was forced to endure this instead. I wish I could use "The Force" on the budget.

An end to our $ classes

Sorry this is going to be a long post, there are just so many of my thoughts I want to record about this . . .

One of the best things EH and I have done for our marriage is to complete the Dave Ramsey online money classes. I have been "in charge" of paying bills and managing the checkbook for the last eleven years. I never felt like I did a very good job and always wondered what I should do differently.

One of my favorite routines that we've established since doing these classes is to have a weekly money meeting. Many times we're tired and there are many kid-related interruptions. BUT there is such peace in coming up with a plan for our money and not having it weigh on only my shoulders.

A fully funded emergency fund (3-6 months worth of expenses that you don't touch for anything except job loss, injury, etc.) is reportedly highly important to women. It didn't seem very important to me at first but now that ours is under way I can't tell you how freeing it is to know that it's there.

I dragged my feet for years about living within a budget - it's just sounds miserable and so controlling. It has had entirely the opposite effect. I think that it has to do with self-control and discipline. Neither sounds like much fun but are a part of how God wants us to conduct our lives. We know that he doesn't make up rules just to be controlling but to benefit us and that has been the outcome. I'm forever telling the boys that obedience brings blessings and we are seeing the fruit of that in our lives.

Thanks a million to the grandparents who spent hours babysitting and even letting us use their high speed internet connection to view the movies. Please forgive me if you hear Dave Ramsey this and Dave Ramsey that frequently. We're just thrilled with his program!


We no longer have any credit cards or credit card debt!

Grocery shopping on a budget

Eeeew! That summed up my feelings regarding grocery shopping on a budget. How on earth am I supposed to keep track of all that goes into my cart while maintaining the management of my children. I might add that being 8 months pregnant has made any task that I do physically uncomfortable and take longer.

We've been watching our Dave Ramsey videos so I felt I was up to the challenge of grocery shopping -it helped knowing I have a good friend who is also doing this with me! I have come to the conclusion that I actually kind of like it. It felt really empowering to know that I was shopping with a very specific plan and knew what I was spending rather than the inward groan I would often feel as I heard my total announced at the checkout.

We still have some bugs to work out of the system, like our TP dilemma of last month but we're up to tackling another month. I still don't feel like we're coming out ahead as this takes a lot of patience. There are so many things I'd like to order/buy to prepare for this coming baby or for homeschool but I'm having to learn to wait. It's partly the organizer in me that wants it all done ahead of time. Ah well, like DR is so well known for saying, right now we're going to "live like no one else so that later we can LIVE like no one else!"

TP Warning

A warning to any visiting family and friends for the month of June:

The monthly cash allotment for toiletries was spent as of June 10th and there are only three rolls of toilet paper left in the cabinet. Use sparingly or you'll have to use the cloth TP I've been threatening about. You can send your note of thanks to Dave Ramsey.

Financial Peace Weeks 4, 5, and 6

These weeks focused on dumping debt, how to handle your creditors, and how to wise up about your purchases.

Thankfully we only have one debt (besides our mortgage) and we just mailed in the final payments on our credit cards!

I am so grateful that we have not had to deal with creditors. This lesson had a plan for how to prioritize your creditors and how to deal with them if they are harassing you.

The lesson on purchasing was helpful in teaching us what to consider when making big purchases like cars, furniture, etc.

There you have it!

Financial Peace Weeks 2 & 3

For week two of our online Dave Ramsey financial class Ga came over to watch the boys and we hit Baker's Square (because they have WI-FI and are open later then the coffee shops, oh yah and there is the pie!). It was a bummer that we couldn't get the video to work (I guess the WI-FI didn't work as we had hoped) so we sat there piled into a booth seat, shared a pair of ear buds and just listened to the session. We had a great time and kept cracking up over the humor. DR spoke a lot about the frequent difference in spouses (the nerd and the free spirit). I wear the nerd hat and EH wears the free spirit hat - but I have to say that neither one of us are die-hard to those descriptions. Our assignment: to create a quickie budget. Done.

Week three we did out at my parent's house. In this session we went over financial forms and how to use them. EH and I paused it a lot to follow our own rabbit trail discussions. This is our first month trying to operate on the budget and as we were advised, it's not balancing out "right". They say it will take 2-3 months. What's one supposed to do when the amount you have budgeted for gifts should work (once it gets beefed up after a couple of months) but it happens to be a big gift month - ack! I guess it will be a good exercise in humility as I won't be able to give as I'd like. EH is the voice of reason reminding me that folks probably don't put as much thought into what we spend on them as I think they do.

This Sunday we plan to do double duty on our lessons as we're a little behind and we'd like to accomplish as much as possible before this babe arrives.

Don't underestimate the lure of $

At dinner the other day EH and I playfully discussed who we could get to pick all the dandelion heads from the backyard. (Getting down on all fours and digging them out is a little difficult when 7 months pregnant and of course I'm anti toxic weed spray). We mentioned that we might be willing to pay a little money for the job - Agent H could barely contain himself to his chair in his anticipation to claim the job. EH and I shared a "we're so good" smile across the table and Agent H was assigned the task.

Bucket in hand and doused in bug spray, Agent H disappeared to tackle the job as soon as he was excused from the table. During the boys' baths EH counted out 500 dandelions. We told Agent H that we would give him 5 cents a flower - ah maybe we should have done the math first. Actually I'm not sure doing the math would have helped cause I seriously thought he'd loose interest in the task after 10 minutes not 60 minutes. Our four year old racked up $25 bucks! The temptation to lean toward the fact that he doesn't understand the monetary difference between a penny and nickel was great for me - EH's integrity broke through and we paid up on the spot (as directed by our Dave Ramsey instruction)!. We explained about the joy of giving 10% to the church and saving 10% and then he could do whatever he wanted with the rest. He readily agreed. Last night I took him out to Target. He gave close study to the Lego isle and then chose a SpyGear spy case. He is so thrilled with his purchase and we are proud of him - even if our "we're so good" look has changed to a "we've been had" look.

Financial Peace Week #1

Last night EH and I watched our first online video session with Dave Ramsey. It was all about saving money. I really felt inspired that we can succeed in this. We've received lots of good financial advise by both of our parents so this really is not news to us. I think it's really about getting a plan, working together to make it happen, and holding each other accountable. I can't tell you the number of times EH and I have looked at each other and said "we should save for that" but somehow it didn't happen. Okay it's not that we don't save, we do. But our tax refund has frequently come to the rescue when the property taxes or home owner's insurance come due.

More to come as I hope to post somewhat weekly as a part of accountability.

Milk solution & the budget

We love our raw milk. It's thick and creamy and it's unspoiled by human intervention. It's also $3 for half a gallon and Little E can suck it down like a vacuum. This week I reduced our milk order and am going to start watering down our milk. This will lighten our grocery bill by $12 a month. If it goes well, I may reduce our order one more time for a total savings of $24 a month! While I could certainly get some slack by whole foods minded folks, I feel like this is our best option for now.

It seems all the basic recommendations that I read about in regards to cutting the budget just don't work for us -we've already done them. BUT, when it comes to the grocery bill, that is where I feel guilt. We eat probably about 80% organic, which does add up no matter how much I've read it's not supposed to or tried to convince myself it doesn't. I've gone into days of grocery remorse after reading a blog I frequent in which the writer spends $40 a week on groceries for her family of four. After confessing what I spend on groceries to a friend recently I wanted to eat my words and crawl into a dark hole somewhere. My one relief has been to hear Dave Ramsey state on his radio show that the average family spends $600 a month on groceries. Having learned my lesson I'm not going to say what I spend but I will say that it felt so very good to hear that average.

I would love to hear suggestions on how you slim down your budget. I should mention that I do sometimes make our own bread (as I feel I'm able), and beans are not an option as a member of our family gets seriously ill on them, and I'm involved in a whole foods buying club where I can purchase organic foods at a reduced price.

Oh, this is getting sooo long BUT - we've been on raw milk for a good three years now and I have had NO charley horses with this pregnancy! Huge for me as I usually wake up with them in the night while I'm pregnant! Maybe that means I'm getting really great calcium resource? Hopefully that doesn't change with the watering down. .

What I Won: 1

Okay I know it's been awhile since the great Bloggy Giveaway has been done with but I never mentioned what I actually won, and I won some great stuff!

I was so very thrilled to win a copy of Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover! from The Happy Housewife. EH picked up More Than Enough a few years back after hearing Dave on the radio and was really inspired by it. I polished off TMM in 4 days and now EH is reading it. Since finishing the book I've now checked out his revised Financial Peace University and workbook from the library and am learning even more about money management.

You would think that with my dad being a financial advisor and very wise in the area of finance some of it would have rubbed off. . . he has been a great resource over the years but I've got to say that it feels like I never "took ownership" of the information. So last night EH and I signed up to do Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University online class. Feel free to take pop-shots at us as we cut up our credit cards and attempt to pay cash for groceries and what not. It should be an adventure!

Thank you to The Happy Housewife for getting us started on this journey!